Many transactions, such as sales transactions, involve consumers that use charge cards, credit cards, debit cards and the like. Such transactions may be collectively referred to as card transactions. Typically, merchants must obtain authorization for these transactions and/or transmit information regarding the transactions to another entity, such as a merchant service provider.
A prior method of performing a card transaction involves using a point of service terminal that has proprietary operating system software of a particular merchant service provider installed thereon. The terminal also typically has other proprietary software for performing such functions as fraud evaluations and report printing. The terminal is used to access a proprietary network of the merchant service provider, and to transmit information regarding the transaction to the network in order to obtain authorization for the transaction.
Because this method utilizes proprietary software and a proprietary network, this method involves significant capital costs. In addition, because the software is installed directly on the terminal, any revisions to the software must be downloaded to or otherwise installed on the terminal. Such revisions are therefore time-consuming and costly to perform. Furthermore, installation of some software revisions may be delayed or never accomplished. Consequently, the terminal may not perform all functions required for a particular transaction.
Another prior method of performing a card transaction involves a consumer using a personal computer to access a web site of a particular merchant. The consumer may then purchase items from the web site by entering a credit card number into the web site using a key pad of the personal computer. Because the personal computer is not a dedicated point of service terminal, however, such a method is inefficient for performing transactions at merchant locations.